The Angel of Hope
by blowmeaway
Summary: Angels are what guide people to happiness and peace when they are in times of despair and sorrow. Konoha needed an angel. Sakura was their very own. SakuxSasu
1. Battle for Konoha

**Chapter 1**

**Battle for Konoha**

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters belong to me.

* * *

It was time.

Finally the moment they had been waiting for. The moment they had been training for.

It was time.

The team stood tall and proud awaiting the attack of thousands of sound-nin who were pouring into Konoha by the millions. The Sound ninja appeared sinister in their black assembles and masks. But, even more so with their leader bringing up the rear.

The Sound-nin parted like the red sea to allow space for their leader to walk through.

"Surrender now Konoha, or every man, woman, and child will suffer." He said softly, making shivers pour down the spines of those who were on his side and the opposing side. This man wasn't even a man. He was made up of a different entity all together.

The blond with blue eyes standing in the front clenched his fists with fury and was ready to raise his voice at the snake, when the Hokage responded in kind, "Did you really think we would just surrender, Orchimaru? Don't you know from experience that Konoha ninja's do not give up that easily!".

Orchimaru glared at his ex-team mate and stepped out of line to allow the black haired and eyed man to pass in front. Lifting his hand on the man's shoulder he stared right at the pink-haired woman to the left of the blond and oily smiled. "Say hi to Sasuke everyone, my apprentice! He was once your friend, your brother, your love. Now…

he is your worst nightmare."

* * *

Sakura could not remember how to breathe. It was like all the air had been sucked out from her lungs and they were burning to inhale.

Sasuke

What had happened to him? She thought in horror. Of course she had prepared herself for the worst, but this was worse than worse. Her heart felt seared with heat and she felt bile rise in her throat at the sight of Sasuke standing beside the greatest enemy that ever existed of Konoha. He had grown obviously. But the change was unexpected compared to when she last saw him. His features were chiselled and scarred from his many fights. His physique appeared more muscular, emphasized by the second skin uniform of the sound. His eyes however are what truly shocked her. They were black, with swirling vivid red irises that would make any rational ninja run. But she wouldn't run. Sakura was tired of running, tired of being weak, tired of failling Naruto who became the equivalent of a brother to her.

There was pity in her heart for the boy he used to be and the great man he could've become, had he stayed in Konoha and not succumbed to his greed for revenge. Averting her gaze from him, Sakura focused instead on protecting her teacher and scanned the army of sound ninja's, that were still flooding through Konoha's gates, looking for any suspicious movement. Her gaze stopped on a sound ninja to the far left. This ninja had his hand behind his back, his head cocked toward the Konoha's Hokage. Thinking quickly, Sakura stepped up in front of her teacher, letting her know that an attempt was being made on her life.

Flinging to the right side of Tsunade-shishou, she heard a _swoosh, _feeling the blade slip past her cheek, digging deep enough to remain lodged and create a scar. Sakura narrowed her eyes at the Sound Hokage and yanked the blade out, skewering the wound deeper but making no move to heal it. Sensing her kyuubi friend reaching out for her in concern, she quickly glanced at him and nodded in okay, watching until he stepped back into place. She fingered the blade and black hilt, before flicking it with straight on accuracy towards the leaders' heart.

Sakura watched as a snake head emerged from the high left of his chest where his heart was supposed to be, and swallow it.

Naruto positioned a few feet away, cringed in disgust. Tenten shuddered at the disgusting display, while Ino and Hinata paled in colour. Neji and Lee who were standing beside their female team mate leaned slightly forward in a protective stance, as did Shikamaru and Chouji with Ino and Kiba and Shino for Hinata. _So... he possessed the bodies of many snakes to create this one-_mused Sakura. Before anyone could see her move, she spun around and vanished, to appear beside Naruto but facing the opposite direction of her opponents to heal the wound, knowing that if Sasuke copied this technique he would use it on himself in times of battle, and she did not want that to happen. Sakura then turned around to face the intruders and smiled devilishly at them.

The Sound-nin appeared shocked, as did Sasuke who had narrowed his eyes at the display of speed that he never expected from the pink-haired girl. What had shocked him the most was her confident smile. Did she really think the frail Konoha warriors would win this battle? He had been training for years at Sound to reach his supreme level of power and only gained the power he had because of his will to avenge his clan. Sakura however had nothing or no one to train for, to fight for...to get stronger for. He did.

Sakura looked at Tsunade and nodded in respect. Her teacher flicked her fingers and that was the signal.

Sakura stepped forward, with her eyes trained directly at the Sound Hokage, Orchimaru, and whispered "You Orchimaru, will not destroy this village, will not lay a hand on its people, while these ninja before you are alive. So we are giving you a chance to leave before going all out." She tossed her shoulder-length hair from her face, waiting for his response.

Orchimaru raised his eyebrow at the absurd question coming from this tiny, petite female, who dared stand up to him, and asked,

"Or what?"

Sakura's expression remained blank as she took out her gloves and slipped them on before flexing her hands in the material. She kept her gaze on him, allowing him to see the smirk that transpired across her face.

"We'll kick your ass."


	2. Pain and Suffering

**Chapter 2**

**Pain and Suffering**

**Disclaimer: **None of these amazing characters belong to me.

* * *

The war had started.

Pink strands flew as Sakura twisted her upper body, successfully parrying a blow from a katana that sliced towards her head. She flipped herself upwards, somersaulting in the air to land directly on the flat of the huge blade. Then flicking out her own tiny kunai, she ran towards the owner of the blade, a sound ninja, and sliced his throat deftly.

Only to be shanghaied by another two more.

They were coming at her fast, probably part of a more elite Sound force. The ninja's surrounded her, forming a circle with Sakura in the middle. They made a stab all at once. Sakura quickly droped to the ground, kicking her chakra-fused legs around in a low arch, spinning to catch them all in the stomach and scatter the unconcious nins among their dead comrades.

Sakura did not stop moving while she scanned her liquid green eyes, seeking out her friends and any Konoha ninja who might need aid. Ino and Hinata were teamed up against a monstrous looking sound-nin. Ino had taken control of his mind using her clan jutsu, while Hinata was sealing up his chakra points. Neji and Lee were up against two ninjas who appeared to be jounin sound-nin. Tenten appeared to be struggling against five opposing ninjas at a time. Sakura spotted a ninja sneakily moving up behind Tenten and picked up speed in order to get to her.

_'I won't make it in time!' _Sakura screamed in her mind. Catching her thumb between her fingers, she rapidly drew a chakra circle in the air in front of her and placed her now bloody thumb in the centre,

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" _

A silver wolf appeared, no taller than her waist. '_Kira! Get to the sound-nin coming up behind Tenten!' _She thought frantically to her wolf companion. Kira growled at the sound ninja, in response to her mistresses wishes, and lunged at him. The ninja had no chance to escape. He was already dead when the heavy 200 pound animal landed solidly on his chest, crushing his sternum with her paws.

Sakura skidded to a halt in front of Tenten, "You all right?" she asked worriedly. Tenten looked at her close friend and sent a reassuring smile before knocking Sakura aside and sweeping out three kunai to pin them onto three sound-nin approaching Sakura from behind.

Relief swept through her at the close save and she exhaled to gain back her focus. Sakura turned to face the onslaught of ninjas that were, once again surrounding her. Sakura took a step backwards, only to bump into Tenten. Back to back both females remained, alert against any attacks.

Sakura eyed the ninja suspiciously, gripping two kunai each hand while puzzling out a pattern in her mind. She nudged Tenten to get the woman's attention still keeping an eye on the circle of ninja,

"It seems as though we have a group of sexist males here, Ten", Sakura smirked at Tenten's confused glance before elaborating, "with Konoha ninja, it is very easy to recognize their gender, which in turn gives the enemy an advantage of planning out distinct attacks for, let's say, a female. With a female ninja, they simply surround and conquer, whereas with a male ninja, they charge forward and usually it's only one sound ninja against one male Konoha ninja."

Tenten rolled her eyes at the stupidity of these enemy ninja "Whopdeedoo, not only are we waisting our time against these ninja when we could be fighting Kabuto or Orochimaru, but these guys happen to have sex on their brains." Letting out a frustrated sigh Tenten narrowed her cinnamon coloured eyes at them mentally picking out the ones with a weak stance and a cocky smile, knowing from experience that they would go down quickly.

"I'm already done, Saki."

Tenten disappeared from her place behind Sakura. The Sound ninja's peered around in confusion seeking out the weapons mistress, only to see darkness blanket their vision. Tenten appeared back to back with Sakura again, smirking victoriously and balancing a kunai on the tip of her finger. She glanced back at the pink-haired woman with a quick wink before arming a sinister smile at the Sound nin's who hastened to replace the ones she just knocked out, "That's five dead and two knocked unconcious. I think I'm beating you Sakura. What exactly have you been doing in Tsunade's training sessions?"

Sakura made a crude gesture behind her for Tenten to see, causing the woman to roar with laughter.

"Not in the middle of battle, please show some restraint," Sakura commented dryly before charging into the oncoming crowd of enemy ninja's. They all smirked at the actions of the pink-haired female, thinking how easy it was going to be to take her out.

Glittering jade eyes were the last thing these suckers saw before they tumbled into the awaiting crater Sakura had created in the ground.

By now all the Sound ninja's were crowding the pink and brown-haired women trying to get close enough to attack without getting their asses thrown. Both females were now virtually, surrounded. There was no give in the ring that was formed by the black uniformed nin's and the two women were unable to see passed the large crowd. Sakura sighed,

_'Oh what I would give for a hot bath'_

One of them stepped forward, only halting when the small pink-haired woman shook her finger chidingly at them,

"You really don't want to do that, trust me." she purred dangerously.

This ninja was male obviously, Sakura noted, because of the arrogance that radiated from him as he looked down at the two small ninja's, eyeing them like a slab of meat. He easily towered over the women, trying to look menacing.

Sakura had a mental image built in her head summed up to shoving a stick up a very unappealling place.

The idiotic male pointed at her commandingly and made a gesture for her to come closer.

No this guy wasn't an idiot, he was more specifically...a dead idiot.

Slipping a flirtatious smile on, she swayed her hips forward, enough so that she could see the hunger in his eyes as he eyed her petite, curvaceous figure up and down.

"You wanted me...?"she said. Sakura chose to add a suggestive tone in her voice, trying to distract him from looking at Tenten. She scanned her gaze clinically up and down his length, noting the limp visible in his left calf and the weapons that were slightly protruding under his uniform. She counted six kunai and noticed a bow and arrow case slung across his chest. Sakura furrowed her brow at this. This nin was clearly skilled in close range combat, what with his big form but why the bow, without carrying any arrows.

She kept up the facade of a flirty, brainless, bimbo as she tilted her body slightly towards Tenten still keeping her gaze trained on the big ninja.

Subconsciously, she let her senses wander among the battlefield, searching, for a certain link. Closing her eyes, Sakura used chakra to enhance her vision causing every ninja to be give off heat waves, much like the vision of a cat. Turning her head slightly to the right, she could make out slight figures on top of the Hokage Monument.

The enourmous Sound nin was sliding forward without even trying to be subtle about it. Sakura reasoned that if she tried to punch him into seventh hell, a combustion of chaos would occur in which Tenten would be placed in danger and herself, swarmed.

Sakura settled on quick and clean, diving low on her hands and snapping up her heeled foot to impale his skull right between the eyes, severely damaging his brain tissue. This man would not be doing any fantasizing about her or any other woman ever again. The impaled man, sloppily tipped over landing with a thud and bounce.

Red liquid pooled down the dead man's cheeks, soaking into the ground and bathing his face.

Sakura propelled off the ground using her hands and momentum, performing a graceful aerobic spin in the air before landing lightly with a dramatic finish.

A stunned silence issued in the air. Any of the oncoming ninja's would not have claimed to even see her move, only that she was originally positioned two feet from the enourmous Sound nin and in a blink, she wasn't.

Crouching in defense, she swished her toe in a semi circle in front of her, kicking up dust and debris, effectively blinding her opponents. Sakura could hear Tenten switch to her curve blade, the most deadly out of all the weapons she owned.

Not only was Tenten's curve blade deadly, it was also very smooth...and quick.

The pink-haired woman brought up a finger and cocked it, plump cherry lips curving into a deadly smirk,

"Come at me boys, and we'll see who ends up dying tonight, ne?"

* * *

_"Kage Bushin No Jutsu!"_

Springing backward, the blond-haired ninja narrowly avoided being diced in half. He quickly disappeared, allowing his clones to deal with the thirty or so Sound ninja's that had surrounded him in attempts to defeat and capture a Jinjuriki.

The blond-haired man reappeared further ways off and immediately headed in search of his pink-haired teammate. Sakura was more important to him right now, seeing as how Sasuke was after her blood almost as much as his. Sasuke also considered Sakura the weaker link, the easier target and would be looking for her right now.

He came to a halt at the side of a huge crowd. Sound ninja's were trampling over each other to reach the centre, in which the fighters could not be seen.

It was right then that he caught hold of the anger-laced words,

"YOU BASTARD!YOU DID NOT JUST TRY AND GROPE ME! IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR!"

The voice rang with incredulous disbelief, causing Naruto to wince at the volume, his ears vibrating with the loud pitch. Rubbing his ear, Naruto grinned in triumph. Yep that was definitely Sakura.

Looking around, Naruto walked backwards a few steps, then took off in a running leap and somersaulted over the crowd right into the growing chaos.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY HAVE ADVANCED!"

The informant inwardly cringed, taking a few steps back, but otherwise maintaining composure. He bowed and clearing his throat, went on

"The enemy has advanced to the centre of Konoha, all though it seems that the majority of Sound and Lightening Nin's have been held up near the gates."

"How many casualties?"

"About 10,000 of our ANBU went into battle, 50 of them have passed."

The Hokage had snapped her gaze up to eye the messenger, thinking him to be suspicious. It wasn't every day that so few ninja's died in a war as big as this one. Konoha was one of the biggest villages in the Fire Country, facing off against two other prosperous villages. That many casualties was near impossible.

A frown line appeared, showing that the Hokage was deep in thought. It was not possible for so few to have passed. Not that she was complaining but she could clearly sniff out a ploy in play.

_Unless…._

"Which ANBU division is currently holding the nin's off at the gates?" she barked out, crouched down and healing three ANBU's with serious head wounds. The informant fended off a Lightning nin who was rapidly losing chakra, before replying.

"When I last spotted them they seemed to surrounded, but alive with no physical trauma. And it looked as though your apprentice was enjoying herself."

The blonde-haired Hokage whipped out a tiny smirk and felt pride for the pink-haired woman that she helped shape and respected.

But the Informant was not done delivering the news, he just wished he wouldn't get killed in the process.

"Lady Tsunade, there is something else that I must tell you…."

Not taking her attention off of her surroundings, Tsunade narrowed her gaze at him, urging him to continue.

But when he didn't, she continued coldly,

"Spit it out already. In case you haven't noticed, we are in the middle of a war where fellow ninja's are dying by the second."

Hesitatingly, he said,

"The Akatsuki have joined the war. And they have joined our side."

Tsunade stood up and instantly adopted her fighting stance, eyes searching the battlefield for black and red swirled cloaks.

"Why?" she whispered to herself.

Answering her question, the messenger added,

"It seems as though they are after the Jinchuriki and it gives them an easier chance to get close to him. But their new objective, is not the jinchuriki."

Hazel eyes filled with fear met his piercing gaze.

"Sakura seems to have caught their attention now."

In that single moment, Tsunade felt her heart stop and then clench, her lungs refused to allow her to breath. This momentary display of weakness attracted the spear of Lightning Nin, but before he could behead her, the informant stepped in front taking the brunt of the attack.

His now detached head, rolled to the ground, leaving a red trail behind.

Rage combined with the fear she felt for her daughter played a part in the Lightning nin feeling all the 206 bones break in his body, before locking gazes with the Hokage and not seeing the light of day ever again.

Tsunade bent down to the body that belonged to the severed head, and muttered a quick prayer of sympathy, feeling the keen loss of one of her loyal and brave ninja's. She formed the right hand seals of transporting him to a morgue, where all the dead Konoha nin's were being transported to.

Thinking quickly, she scanned the battle taking place around her, holding tightly to her rage and mourn, which if unleashed, would most likely get her killed. The kunoichi she was looking for didn't seem to be in sight.

That was until she caught a flash of pink, tucked into the crook of a black-haired ninja's arm. But that wasn't what made all of the colour and flush in her cheeks drain. It was the fact that she noticed he wasn't a Konoha nin and seemed to be standing tall and straight against the oncoming murderous power of a rasengan.


	3. Ironic Meeting

**Chapter 3**

**Ironic Meeting**

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters belong to me.

* * *

It didn't take long for her to realize, that she was trapped. The situation was getting worse by the minute and the only thing she could do was play dead.

Everything had been going great or...as great as a war could get. Lightening and Sound nin's were disappearing as quickly as she could say 'boo' with Tenten twirling her curved blade and from each swipe of her own chakra scalpel.

_He_ just _had_ to come into the picture.

_Flashback_

_"Saki, do me a favour and pass me one of your kunai. Mine have been used up and I can't get them back" Sakura turned to regard her friend with a bemused smile, all the while flashing up a fist to sink into a Lightning nin's face. He had tried to take advantage of her distractedness._

_Slipping out a glinting metal from her pouch, the pink-haired med nin tossed it to the weapon's mistress, who in turn caught it. Only to use it on a charging bull-like nin. While Sakura, feeling a faint movement from the ground had been gazing down in puzzlement. A blonde-haired lightening nin had came up from behind locking his steely arms around her neck and cupping her breast in one swift move._

_Silence erupted._

_Every Konoha nin fighting within five miles who had some sense of what was going on in the centre of that crowd, froze in shock nearly getting themselves killed in the process._

_Tenten knowing too well what the poor ninja's fate was, smothered giggles behind her hand. _

_"YOU BASTARD!YOU DID NOT JUST TRY AND GROPE ME! IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR!"_

_Shocked beyond belief, Sakura reached over her shoulder grasping the ninja's upper arm and with a tiny pull wrenched the entire limb completely from its socket._

_'Damn!' she inwardly cursed, 'I didn't want to resort to torture.'_

_Spinning around on her heel with her fist pulled back, Sakura rather gracefully punched him out cold._

_"Oi Sakura-chan! You ok there?"_

_The familiar voice pulled Sakura from her thoughts enabling her to gain control of herself and focus back on the ongoing battle._

_"Sakurrrrraaaaa-chaaaaannnn! Did you hear me?"_

_The whining tone his voice took on tugged a grin on her lips before she could scold her features into a neutral expression._

_"Hey Naruto! What took you so long? We're getting bored here." _

_Naruto rolled up the sleeves on his orange jumpsuit and adapting a crouched position, hands flexing in anticipation. He faced one side of the unbreakable ring of Lightning and Sound ninja's that were continuously circling Sakura and Tenten wanting to claim glory as the ninja who was smart and strong enough to take these two pesky and persistent women out. _

_He looked into the faces of these ninja, reading their lust for blood and other things. Flashing a foxy grin complete with whiskers and all, the jinchuriki spoke,_

_"Both of us know that whatever plan you have in those pea-brained head's of yours is not going to work, because Sakura-chan and Ten are so much stronger than you."_

_Many hot headed ninja's growled at this, attacking Naruto in rage._

_Smirking, he continued on conversationally,_

_"Does that upset you? That a pair of girls are stronger and smarter than you," he ducked to avoid a punch, grabbing the ninjas' legs and flipping him upside down in a wrestling move to land the Lightning nin on his head, "Don't you worry pal. I know exactly how you feel. Take it from me who has experienced one of Sakura-chan's punches head on."_

_Naruto winced more at the memory than at the slash he received from up close and personal numchucks. Thinking quickly, he transferred the handles from the enemy's hands into his own, wrapping them around the Sound nin's neck before proceeding in crisscrossing them and therefore, choking the ninja._

_Almost oblivious to the sound nin's flailing limbs and short gasps for breath, he leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially,_

_"Anyways my point is, get over your huge ego, because it's going to be the death of you someday." Naruto chuckled at the irony in his words. Seeing the man's rapidly whitening face, he loosened his hold on the numchucks,_

_"Oh and one more thing." the man paused comically delaying his own death._

_"You attack any of my friends again, especially Sakura-chan, I will bring you back to life and castrate you with a rusted, dull knife." _

_The ninja's eyes widened, staring into blue ones that were being coloured by a blood red._

_Naruto released a short burst of controlled, death inducing red chakra that put to sleep half the opposing ninja's for a very long time._

_He looked over his shoulder to see Sakura arching a pink brow at him, to which Naruto responded in explanation by giving a sheepish grin and slinging a hand up to rub the back of his head nervously._

_"He was mentally undressing you Sakura-chan. I had to do something to defend your honor." the nine tailed jinchuriki protested adamantly._

_Sakura further arched her brow at him, curiously._

_Duck, kick, punch, slice, dodge...Tenten called out to Sakura over her shoulder,_

_"Can you toss me another one, Saki?"_

_Twirl, slap, trip, punch, break...Sakura huffed in annoyance._

_"I'm a bit busy here Ten."_

_Elbow, scrape, dislocate, yank, jab...Tenten spared a glance at her pink-haired friend,_

_"Please Saki, I used the last one you gave me."_

_Dodging, Sakura took the little time she had to reach for another kunai with her left hand and carving through bone with her right. Noticeably the sky grew darker forcing Sakura to pause in her actions and peek up at black clouds._

_Green eyes narrowed, squinting for the first time since the beginning of battle across at the harsh sight of mangled limbs and bloodied bodies that littered the streets of Konoha. The medic nin in her, cried out at the loss, wanting to run and heal the bodies who were once great shinobi. But she stayed put to help Tenten and Naruto, continuing on in hopes that something would happen in their favour. _

_It was then that dismay etched upon her features when she took in ten figures of black and red cloaks. She gritted her teeth at the absolute luck Konoha was experiencing. _

_Without realizing, Sakura stomped her foot creating a massive earthquake that spread among the many enemy nin's, and effectively knocking the remaining one's over and into an abyss below the earth. _

_Naruto cursed as he thinly avoided joining the unfortunate Lightning and Sound nin's that had taken up residence beneath his feet._

_Tenten stood with her arms crossed over her chest, an annoyed expression on her face from a pouty mouth to glittering brown eyes,_

_"You couldn't have saved a few for me, could ya? But no, you just had to go and use your super strength to show off how macho you are. Honestly Sakura..."_

_Cutting her off, Sakura held a finger over her lips, signaling Tenten and Naruto to stop talking and listen. They reacted too late; all of them reacted too late in surprise to the blur that had flashed by Tenten and Naruto's view._

_Both ninja's blinked at the currently vacant spot that Sakura had been standing in just a few seconds ago. _

_A husky chuckle burst both ninja's out of their stupor and they faced the Sound nin with a seemingly relaxed stance, hands circling their weapons and ready to form any necessary hand seals._

_Naruto stepped forward, his deep voice cutting through the sounds of battle surrounding them,_

_"Teme"_

_"..Dobe"_

_"Put Sakura-chan down now."_

_"...if I don't."_

_"I'll make sure you won't be able to use your sharingan again."_

_Sasuke didn't even blink at the clearly delivered threat, refusing to speak further. His right arm was tucked around Sakura, holding her to him by supporting her back, leaving her small feet to dangle freely._

_Growling, Naruto moved a few steps forward, his hand outstretched beckoningly,_

_"Give her to me NOW, Teme and I won't kill you."_

_The sharingan user scoffed, "As if you could dobe."_

_Black eyes watched in concealed surprise as his once best friend, hesitated before dropping the outstretched hand. _

_A rare calm presented itself in bright blue eyes, Naruto rose to his full 6' foot height, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides,_

_"What do you want with her Teme? What has she finally done now of all times to catch your attention?"_

_The arm that Sasuke kept clutched around the slender body, tightened. He retorted right back,_

_"hn"_

_Naruto gritted his teeth, hearing them grind against each other. A slow burn of anger and fear swept through him, seeing Sakura trapped in the arms of Uchiha Sasuke. At the moment, Sasuke's actions were as unpredictable as the mentally unstable Orochimaru._

_"If that's how you want to play Teme," Naruto brought one leg back, preparing himself as a silver ball of energy whirled, growing bigger in the palm of his hand "then I guess I have no choice."_

_Behind the scenes, a forgotten Tenten stealthily came up to the right side of the Uchiha avenger, using all of the hand seals she could think of, to hide her scent, sound, and sight. She crouched low, ready to slip Sakura out from Sasuke's grip when the opportunity presented itself._

_Keeping his gaze on_ _Naruto, Sasuke flash-stepped behind the hidden Tenten, anticipating her moves as Tenten aimed punch after punch at his face. He blocked angling his forearm in time to her hits and quickly stepped to the right as she took another swing, forcing herself off-balance. Taking advantage of the situation, Sasuke elbowed Tenten to the back of the head, hearing her fall to the ground with a grunt, unconscious._

_Naruto gave a roar of outrage at the sight of his friend sprawled on the ground,_

_"Why did you knock out Tenten TEME? She was only trying to protect Sakura from you!"_

_"...Sakura does not need protection from me."_

_Naruto threw back his head and laughed, the sound echoing and harsh,_

_"Yeah right, tell that to the many times that you almost killed us."_

_The memory of how easily Sasuke turned on his teammates and friends peaked Naruto's anger. He ran forward, the mammoth ball of the rasengan growing even stronger. Far too quickly for the naked eye to see, he launched his rasengan directly to the left side of Sasuke's chest, his gaze communicating briefly with emerald green. _

_End of Flashback_


	4. Clashing of Wills

**Chapter Four**

**Clashing of Wills**

**Disclaimer: **None of these characters belong to me.

* * *

_Clash._

_Two forces fighting over the same cause, or in this case, the same person._

* * *

"We need to grab her and fast. Or they're gonna know something's up."

Kisame shifted the mammoth blade he was currently using as a cane, over his shoulder and went back to searching for a specific ninja. A special one.

_Very special indeed this one. To be chosen by the __Uchiha could only mean that she possesses a gift not one of the members are aware of. Even I can't understand why he would possibly want her for his future bride other than her excellent medical skills and knowledge as well as that little body sure to drive__ even the most sensible man crazy._

A smirk curved his blue lips at the thought of any Uchiha noticing her, much less women in general. Uchiha's were notorious for their one-night stands.

"Whatever you're thinking Kisame. Stop. Your perverted antics are making me sick." Drawled a deep, rumbling voice, its owner hidden in the shadows.

"I'm surprised you know the definition of the word. And here I was thinking all this time, that you were a 40 year old virgin." Kisame shot back, not twitching a muscle in fear. Uchiha Itachi has killed for less.

Itachi ignored him, choosing to remain silent and observe the blue-skinned killer, wondering just how much he knew.

"Exactly how much do you know about the Haruno Clan?"

Kisame turned to look at the man in the shadows, curious as to where this question had come from.

"Not much." He managed to shrug his shoulders dismissively with the huge blade still resting across his back, "The only ninja currently alive from the Haruno Clan is that pink-haired bitch and her grandfather. The rest of the clan is made up of civilians."

Itachi bowed his head and cryptically remarked, "Those members are far from being mere civilians, Kisame."

"Most ninja's would consider a clan like that weak. How the hell are they still alive?" Kisame ignored Itachi's comment. His Uchiha partner was always confusing the hell out of him, answering questions with more questions. So Kisame continued ranting, hoping to get a straight answer for once.

Itachi narrowed his gaze on his partner, the black dots in eyes beginning to circle around red irises. Kisame backed away, his hands up in a passive manner, "Just answer my question Itachi, no need to always have a stick up your butt."

Itachi kept his deadly eyes on Kisame for a moment longer before speaking, "The Haruno Clan was far from weak, they are forgotten today because all of their skills developed were destroyed in the battle to seal the nine-tailed demon.

I remember as a child at about Sasuke's age, whenever we were outside playing, showing off what we could do. The Haruno's never participated. They watched from the sidelines." Itachi chuckled darkly, adding to his image of a psychopathic killer, "The Haruno's were always very secretive about what they could do. Konoha's other more prestigious clan's would've placed their behavior under arrogance, if not for the fact that the Haruno's were always unfailingly kind and modest in truth."

Kisame gaped inwardly at the sincere and honest answer. Itachi never spoke this much. Usually withholding information until the last minute and only if those plans required Kisame's skills with the Samehada or his water jutsus.

Turning to face the older Uchiha, Kisame lifted Samehada off his shoulder and flung it around to stop the attack of a Lightning Nin with more brawn than brains. He smiled toothily, displaying his razor sharp teeth and retracted the large blade from the corpse, flipping it back around, nearly cutting off his own head, to grab the handle and plunge it into the ground.

"So….what were the Haruno's hiding?" Kisame continued questioning as though nothing had just happened. Itachi stepped away from the shadows and into the sunlight, lifting his right hand palm upwards.

_It's going to rain_, he thought idly, not responding to Kisame's impatient stance. He enjoyed making other people squirm.

He rolled his head, the leaf band coming into view and giving off a harsh reflection, displaying prominently the black line scratched right through the middle.

"That…." Itachi took two steps forward and leapt off the Hokage Mountain, knowing that his words would carry, "is a mystery even I don't know."

A crack formed deep in the earth emitting from the Samehada. Opaque, white orbs widened at the vibrations coursing under his feet and as he cursed, the Hokage Mountain erupted at the awakening of a volcano that had long been buried, come to life.

* * *

A kunoichi's life, or any ninja's life for that matter, consisted solely of killing. They trained as children to handle a weapon, became part of a genin team to learn how to handle taking a life with their own hands. Then they perfected killing and embodied it as though death were an art.

Yes, that may have been the true life of a kunoichi, but Sakura could never get used it. Maybe it was because the Haruno clan was not a clan with a bloodline designed to give an opponent the most painful and slow death possible. Maybe it was because, though Sakura would always be a kunoichi, her instinct to preserve life itself due to her training as a medic nin, would forever rule the part of her soul that screamed for self-preservation, for survival.

But even though being a medic nin took up a huge portion of her life, was a big piece of who she is today, there were times when that little voice in her head screamed out,

_Don't sit there like an idiot!Move!_

Because at the very moment, Sakura was frozen against what to do while looking head on into the gleaming beacon of an oncoming destructive and deadly rasengan.

Frozen, that is, until the little survival voice kicked in.

She grabbed onto that little voice and forced her body to move, speedily slipping out of the Uchiha's arms and scooping Tenten into her own, before leaping a good 20 feet away.

_This war is so not going to be easy..._

Sakura quickly crouched down on the bloodstained ground and placed a small, pale hand on Tenten's forehead. Taking advantage of her chakra, she sent a small wave, enough to heal the heavy concussion that Sasuke gave her and remove any lingering traces of pain.

Sakura sighed in relief knowing that Tenten was going to be up and roaring anytime now and turned to keep an eye on the two ex-friends who were currently going all out against each other. An odd sense of deja vu engulfed her, bringing her mind back to the time when Naruto and Sasuke fought on the roof top of the Konoha hospital. It was almost funny that even after the many years separating the three of them, she always seemed to be the one standing on the sidelines, always watching, waiting for the time that her teammates would finally look in her direction. But it would always be the same scenario, one that she really wanted to break.

The flashback abruptly slid out of vision as she was jolted back to the present; at least she thought she was in the present. The blood river and mangled bodies littering the once clean streets of Konoha gave her the feeling of being trapped in a nightmare. And the fact that Naruto was already on the third tale stage of his transformation didn't help much.

Despite all the bloodshed taking place, a burning sensation emerged in the pits of her stomach and she brought up a hand to press down against the emotion she felt trying to undo her. Fear was something nasty for a kunoichi to experience, although they usually only felt it when fighting for their own lives. Sakura however, only felt well and truly shaken to her boots when the lives of her friends were at risk.

Naruto was a sight to cower from. His sweet, blue eyes usually filled with happiness, were coiling embers of hate that sent her inwardly wincing even if those eyes weren't directed at her. His frame had stretched until he was rivaling the height of the Hokage Mountain.

She should have been used to his transformation, having seen it countless times, but she had also seen the critical damage and pain he gained as an aftereffect. Her heart pounded rapidly, observing the amount of damage that she knew was already taking place on his body, the burns that would appear like ulcers when he finally became himself again.

Her mouth dried up when she twisted her gaze to Sasuke.

_That's not __Sasuke__._

He no longer looked like the Sasuke she used to know or the one she previously met. His broad shoulders had expanded beyond bodily possible and grew a few more feet from his original 6' height. A clawed hand extended from his right shoulder and talons sharpened out of nowhere on his hands and feet.

_That's not the man I lo__ve__._

Her eyes widened like saucers, green orbs absorbing the scene and trying to piece it together. For every growth of a body part, represented the level the user was at with their curse seal. Along with the hand on his shoulder, Sakura scanned down his gigantic body, counting.

_One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..._

_Holy shit._ The thought came with dismay and she shook her head forcefully to erase any thoughts of death by being stomped on, crushed, cut in half or eaten.

Feeling two chakra signatures approaching from either side of her, Sakura remained still with her gaze determinedly fixed on the two people who she considered friends charge each other. Kakashi and Yamato skidded in and sandwiched her small body between them, trying to protect her from the sight.

Sakura huffed in annoyance, her distress momentarily forgotten as she regarded her two teachers with arms twining across her generous chest.

"I've seen worse than this, you know since I'm a medic Nin. Besides Naruto and Sasuke going at each other is a completely normal circumstance, even if we are in the middle of a war."

Yamato gazed up at the two demons fighting each other, drawing blood and looking as though they took pleasure in the battle for the kill.

"Naruto is going to lose control."

Sakura drew in a shuddering breath, her gaze fixing on Kakashi's laid back profile. He may be the laziest teacher she had ever known and had the privilege of working with, but when push came to shove and the lives of teammates hung on a thin line, he toughened up real fast.

"Look out."

But Sakura who had already anticipated the oncoming disaster was gone with a flick of her wrist. Yamato and Kakashi leapt apart, mere seconds from becoming pancakes as Naruto and Sasuke crashed in the very same spot the three ninja had been standing in. From a distance away, both teachers nodded at each other in understanding, sensing with uncanny ability the destruction that has yet to come.

* * *

By the time she felt him coming up behind her, it was too late for her to do anything but spin around and get a good look at him.

Sasuke's features were still appealing and defined, he still had a body that most girls, _who was she kidding_, every girl would drool over and with one look, she could feel her insides churn, but that feeling was nothing compared to what she felt like doing to him right now.

"You were able to form a clone of your seventh stage, curse seal? Just so that you could fight Naruto and kidnap me?" Sakura didn't have much of a choice but to stall and wait for the right time to run.

A deep chuckle broke through her thoughts, and she gazed directly into his black ones with confusion.

"Don't even think about it Sakura. I'm not letting you get away so easily."

Sakura didn't respond, intently searching his eyes. For what she didn't know. Sasuke stepped closer to her, closing off the small distance between them, and backing her up until she was pressed between the crumbled wall of a building and Sasuke's lean, toned body.

"You've changed Sakura," Sasuke whispered, his hot breath dancing across her cheeks. His black eyes, gleaming with inner fire and cunning intelligence, refused to break from her clear green ones. "But so have I. Whatever you're searching for, you're not going to find. So give up and come with me quietly or else."

The threat was delivered passively, almost as if he was asking her to accompany him for a stroll. But Sakura knew manipulation when she saw it, no matter how carefully hidden it was. And instead of obediently listening to him, which was something she would have done had she been twelve, she sprang her claws.

Sakura slowly pressed her body to his, feeling how perfectly they melded together and reached up to taunt in his ear,

"Or else what?"

Sasuke blinked and she was gone with a whirlwind of dust. Without breaking stride, he smoothly turned around and scrutinized Sakura playfully twirling a kunai around her finger. Her eyes met his and he furrowed his brow.

_What the hell?_ He thought irritated. She was laughing at him!

"You think you know me so well, and yet you say I've changed. If you think that your plan to kill Naruto is going to happen accordingly and perfect the way you want, then you obviously don't know _how _much I've changed. So let me show you."

Sasuke watched Sakura, honest-to-God, skip towards him, halting her progress close enough that he could get a good whiff of her alluring scent. She leaned in conspiratorially with a hand blocking her lips,

"But not right now. Maybe some other time."

And gracefully rotating her wrist, she faded from view.

Sasuke remained rooted to the spot, his callused hands clenching periodically, in attempts to calm the swirling of anger and many other emotions he hadn't felt since he left this weak village. Sakura could do that to him. Make him forget everything except how, her green eyes still displayed every emotion she was feeling. Despite how many attempts Orchimaru had made on him to join his bed, Sasuke was never interested. And now he knew why. Being pressed up against her so intimately forced him to notice her soft curves and how well her small feminine body felt against his. With just one look, her cat-like eyes slanting in his direction, his blood unexpectedly ran south.

He growled under his breath cursing any and every higher being who just liked to see him suffer and determinedly took off after the pink-haired woman, who was slowly, but surely going to drive him crazy.

* * *

Deidara struggled to get a good grip on the squirming monster in his arms. She had managed to snap his knee cap in a clean swipe before he snuck up on her and elbowed a rib, breaking it as well. He couldn't even ask her to heal him because she would probably use some medical jutsu to kill him instead.

Crippled as he was, made it difficult for him to reach for the bomb string he kept in his pouch. Once he had it, Deidara wrapped the vicious, pink-haired kitten until she remained still, futile at tearing the ropes apart even as she tugged."Come in Deidara. Do you have her?" the radio static sound out along with goofy, playful voice.

Deidara pressed a button to talk into the mike, "What no hi? Couldn't you be just a little happy to know I'm alive?"

"Do you have her?" Tobi repeated quietly, unlike his usual carefree self.

Deidara stared down at the walkie-talkie in annoyance, "Of course I have her you idiot. Now what am I supposed to do with her?"

Tobi sighed into the walkie-talkie and said "Our instructions are to bring her back to the lab. Try not to kill her on the way alright. Or Pain will kill you."

Deidara scoffed but didn't reply, knowing that Pain could be listening in through his own walkie-talkie.

"Deidara out."

"Tobi out."

* * *

She had already made up her mind on what she was going to do, but they didn't need to know that.


End file.
